Knitting machine



y 3, 1950 c. F. MILLER 2,508,834

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1945 Sheets-Sheet 1 NVENTOR May 23, 1950 c MlLLER 2,508,834

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Egg Patented May 23, 1950 KNITTING MACHINE Charles F. Miller, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to- Jacquard Knitting Machine 00., Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation ofNew York Application September 12, 1945, Serial No. 615,759

10 Claims. 1

My invention relates to those portions of reciprocating needle knitting machines that lie between adjacent needles of a, needlebed'at the edge of the bed whereat the cloth is formed, or more generally, that lie between adjacent needle spaces at that edge. Speaking generally, these parts of a machine engage the yarn between adiacent stitches drawn to the same side of the fabric, and variously are called forecuts, teeth, sinkers, etc. For brevity all devices of this class are called herein forecuts.

More particularly my invention relates to those devices of this class that remain immovable at the needle bed edge during the knitting operations, rather than those (for example, sliding sinkers) that are moved during the knitting operations. Commonly in practice such elements are formed as integral parts of the needle bed. It has been recognized however that various advantages arise from forming forecuts as entities separate from the beds. For example, this permits the forecuts and the remainder of the bed to be made of different materials, and accordingly each made from a material best suited for the functions that it performs; also this practice tends to facilitate the shaping and finishing of the forecuts, and to the extent that damaged forecuts are replaceable readily it facilitates repair when a forecut is injured. The present invention provides an improved forecutand-needle-bed construction, a readily made form of forecut-receiving needle bed, and forecuts that are readily made, readily attached to the bed firmly, and readily replaced when injured.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of my invention as applied to forecuts serving primarily the simple purpose of providing fixed'surfaces or edges over which the yarn is drawn to form sinker loops, and a few of the possible variations of that preferred form. Fig. 1 is a perspective of one of the preferred forecuts. Fig. 2 shows the shape of the sheet metal piece from which the forecut of Fig. l is formed. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, and Fig. 4 is an end view of the same forecut. Figs. 5, 6 and '2' are sections of the same forecut on the lines 5-5, li -6 and ,l-! of Fig. 3 respectively. Fig. 8'is a diagrammatic vertical section of a portion of a needle cylinder illustrating my preferred location of detached forecuts and also an application of my preferred form of forecut ,to conventional forms of cylindrical beds for sliding needles; this figure shows also, generally, the usual relation between each needle and its adjacent forecuts 2 when the needle is at the end of its stroke in drawing a new loop. Fig. 9 is an elevation' to show the locking of the forecuts at the inner side of the cylinder of Fig. 8. Fig. 1.0 is a plan view of Fig. 8 showing particularly the relation between the forecuts and the walls which form the needle slots of the needle cylinder. Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic vertical section of a part of a needle cylinder to illustrate that such forecuts can be applied to needle beds directly. Fig. 12 is a vertical section of a horizontal bed carrying spring beard needles and having Fig. 1 forecuts applied to it, to illustrate that the invention is not limited to cylindrical or to vertical needle beds, or to the latch type of needles, but is of general application. Fig. 13 is a perspectiveof a convenient tool for placing forecuts of the type of Fig. 1 in their slots and removing injured forecuts. Fig. 14 shows the same tool carrying-one of the forecuts. Fig. 15 is a section showing a variation of the preferred form of the invention, and Fig. 16 shows the shape of the sheet metal piece from which the forecut of Fig.- 15 is made. Fig. 1'7 is a, section illustratin another form the invention can assume, and Fig. 18 shows the piece from which the forecut of Fig. 17 is formed. Fig. 19 is a section illustrating still another form of the invention, and Fig. 20 shows the shape of the piece of sheet metal from which the Fig. 19 forecut is formed. Preferably the detached forecuts Ill (regard less of whether of the exact form here shown or otherwise) are carried in slots l l which extend across that edge of the needle bed (!2 in Fig. 8, l3 in Fig. 11, and M in Fig. 12) at or adjacent which the fabric is made, and more or less at right angles to the needles l5 and i6 and the directions of their movements. The needle bed may be adapted to carry the needles in any conventional or convenient manner, the manner being immaterial to the invention; for example, the bed may have the conventional projecting walls I! providing slots in which the needles 15 or IE lie, and jacks l8 or other controllers or operators of the needles may be employed if dc sired and may be located in the same slots, as is conventional. If desired the slot walls I! may stop short of the forecuts. For example, spaces 2| may be; left between the two to give latch openers access to the needles as in Fig. 8, or spaces 22, Fig. 12, may be left for the application of a beard presser or pressers to the needles. In the alternative the slotwalls I! may come fully to the forecuts as shown in Fig. 11. Also in the case of a links-and-links machine for example, the

ends of the slot walls I! (which usually are considerably thicker than the forecuts, Fig. m y be tapered at 23 to guide needles passing from one needle bed to the other.

Likewise the needles can be of any conventional or convenient form, and they may be operated by any desired means, and they ma be operated either individually or by groups. For example, they may be individually sliding needles, and either latch needles IE or spring beard needles l6, and either single hook needles or double ended needles l5, etc. When double ended needles are used, such as IS in Fig. 8, the machine will have, of course, two op ositely ex tending needle beds (e. g. bed l2 and another similar to 12 but extending in the opposite direction), the two being disposed and cooperating in the manner of the beds in links-and-links machines. Obviously such second bed may or may not have similar forecuts as desired or necessary.

When, for example, it is inconvenient or not practical to form the forecut slots H in the integral body of a needle bed, these slots may be made in an attachment member extended along and fastened to the bed edge. For example, when the needle bed is a cylinder l2, Fig. 8, the attachment member may be a ring [9 resting against the end of the cylinder and bolted to it internally at intervals 26. In the alternative however the edge of the needle bed per se may be slotted to receive the forecuts as shown, by way of example, at 13, Fig. 11, and at M, Fig. 12, the bed in the latter case being horizontal. It will be apparent of course that an attachment member such as member (9 for example, is simply an extension of the major portion of the bed and in effect is a part of the needle bed. Accordingly when reference is made hereafter to a needle bed having slots, etc., it is to be understood that needle beds having attachments such as IQ for example are included as well as beds in which the forecut slots are formed in integral portions of the beds as in Fig. 11, except as the contrary may be indicated.

There may be of course, and usually will be, a forecut slot H between each two adjacent needle spaces as appears in Fig. 10, and a forecut ID in each slot. As appears in Figs. 8 to 12, the slots 1 l are disposed across the edge of the needle bed preferably, i. e. transversely of the needle positions and the paths of movement of the needles. This however is not a wholly essential element of the invention, as appears in subsequent figures of the drawing. At each end of each slot I l the needle bed is undercut as it were, as at 24 and 25 for example, to receive projections 26 and 21 in the forecut and thus in effect cause the forecuts to clasp the needle bed. The relative dispositions of these undercuts are such that the forecuts can neither be pulled out of their slots directly nor rotated readily to release the projections from the undercuts. The undercuts need not be placed immediately at the ends of the slots however; either one or both may be displaced somewhat from the slot end. For example, contrast Fig. 17 with Fig. 8. Preferably however, at least when the slots extend across the bed edge, the undercuts (or undercut) at those ends of the slots that are adjacent the needles or needle paths (e. g. 24), are diSp somewhat outside the field of those ends, as shown in Fig. 8 for example, while the opposite undercuts (or undercut) such as 25 are so located that the adjacent ends of the slots H open into those undercuts (or undercut). This tends to keep the paths of the needles and loops free of parts projecting sidewise from the forecuts, as will be understood as this description proceeds. Further, if desired all the undercuts 24 for one end of, say, all the slots II can be made as a unit by simply cutting a (e. g. circumferential) groove in the face of the needle bed, and all the undercuts 25 for the opposite ends of, say, all the slots can be made as a unit by cutting a groove at an appropriate place in the opposite face of the needle bed. Such groove arrangements are employed in the Fig. 8 construction as will be observed.

At its yarn engaging edge or face, each fore out will be shaped of course as may be appropriate to the manner in which it is intended to operate. In the instances here illustrated the forecuts are primarily to provide right line edges over which the yarn may be drawn in forming sinker loops, as will be the case usually probably, and as will be recognized from Fig. 8. Further, each forecut is so constructed that it can be slipped or rotated more Or less freely to its final position in its slot II, and then at least one of its projections, for example one of its projections 27 (and preferably two such projections as 21), is (or are) displaced laterally to engage with a wall of its undercut and thus definitely latch the forecut in the slot. Preferably the engagement is with a part or parts of the undercut wall at one or both sides of the slot end, and the engagement-forming displacement is automatic as the forecut comes to its seat, 1. e. without requiring special manual action. Such action can be obtained by giving the forecuts some resiliency, at least at the projection or projections (e. g. 21) that provide the latching engagement with the cylinder walls.

Because of these factors at least I prefer to construct the forecuts of sheet metal or another suitable sheet material, as is in the case of the specific forecut l8 illustrated. The forecut II] is folded from a sheet metal piece of the shape shown in Fig. 2. When folded on the center line 28, the fold forms the yarn-engaging edge as will be understood from the drawings, while two cuts 29 provide for two latching laterally-projecting projections 21. As the forecut is formed; these portions 2'! are bent outwardly slightly as will be seen from the drawing, and given a, set in such outward positions. Further, each forecut is made to fill its slot fully, preferably; to do this and at the same time permit a forecut to be slipped into its slot rather easily (and a remnant of a broken forecut removed easily), the two sides of the forecut may be spaced apart or left spaced a little when the piece of metal is formed up, and thereby the forecut initially made a little thicker than the slot width. This is the purpose of giving the forecut H] the cross sections of Figs. 4 to 7. Preferably also each forecut is made wide enough to permit the outer (e. g. folded) edge of the forecut to project slightly from the slot as shown in Fig. 9; this tends to prevent yarn and yarn fibers from being caught between the forecuts and the walls of the forecut slots. As shown in Fig. 8 also, in conjunction with Fig. 10, the body portions or extensions from the body which carry the projections 25, may provide adequately long chambers between adja-' cent forecuts in which the loops of the yarn can be drawn. It is to be understood however that the position of the upper hook of the needle IS in Fig. 8 is only representative of the hook posi tion at the end'of drawing a new loop; a loopdrawing hook at the completion of drawing a new loop may be a little higher or a, little lower, depending on the length of loop desired, etc.

A'forecut of the construction described can be placed in its slot by inserting its end having the projections 21 into that end of its slot that is adjacent the needle position, and then pushing the forecut straight through the slot until the projection or projections 26 seat in the undercut or recess 24 and simultaneously the cooperating projections 21 pass out of the opposite end of the slot and into the undercut 25. When the latter occurs, the projections 21 (which were pushed inwardly toward each other by the slot walls while passing through the slot) snap outwardly, away from each other, due to the resiliency of the metal of the forecut and the set previously given to them, and thus engage the wall of the undercut or recess 25 at both sides of the slot end (one projection 21 at each side of the slot). The forecuts may be inserted in this manner by the fingers, or with the aid of various common tools. Most conveniently however they are-inserted with the aid of such a tool as is shown in Figs. 13 and 14. Basically this tool consists of a body portion or handle 40, a finger 4| projecting from one end of the body and a little thinner than a forecut so as to be of a size to pass into the forecut slots and preferably long enough to pass at least substantially through the whole length of each slot, and a recess 42 below the pin shaped to receive and temporarily retain the head of a forecut as shown in Fig. 14;. In use a forecut is set in the tool as shown in Fig. 14, and then the tool is used to thrust the forecut endwise into its slot as described above. During this action the finger M supports and directs the forecut. When a forecut is fully seated, the tool is readily pulled away from it.

If in service the head portion of a forecut is broken off (i. e. the portion carrying the projection 26), the remainder of the forecut is removed readily by pushing it out of the slot lengthwise by the pin 41 of the tool shown or by some other simple device. If a head portion of a forecut becomes bent, it can be cut or broken oil, and then the remainder thrust out of its slot as before. Thus in either case an injured forecut is readily replaced by a new one.

Fig. 15 will serve to illustrate that it is not necessary that a forecut and its slot lie at right angles to the adjacent needles. Also comparison of the dotted line position of the forecut in this figure with its full line position will show how, in suitable constructions, a forecut of my invention may be insertable into its slot by rotation rather than by a longitudinal sliding movement. Fig. 16 shows the shape of the sheet metal piece from which the Fig. 15 forecut is formed.

Fig. 17 illustrates that the forecut slots may be on the needle face of the needle bed rather than on the edge of the bed. Fig. 18 shows the shape of the sheet metal piece from which the forecut of Fig. 17 is formed.

Fig. 19 illustrates another of the possible variations, namely one in which the forecut slots are placed on the face of the bed opposite the needlecarrying face. Fig. 20 shows the shape of the sheet metal piece from which the Fig. 19 forecut is formed.

The constructions of Figs. 15 to 20 are so similar to the constructions of the preceding figures that no detailed description of Figs. 15 to 20 is required for their understanding. However I 6 prefer the edge mounting and construction 01' Figs. 1 to 16 to the face mountings of Figs. 17 to 20.

- It will be understood that my invention is not limited to the details of construction and operation described above and shown in the drawings; except as appears hereafter in the claims, and that the claims are intended to include reversals such as the substitution of a projectioin for a recess and a recess for a projection.

I'claimr 1. A forecut to provide a stationary edge to re c'eive yarn in a knitting machine, characterized by the fact that the forecut is providedwith a projection to make a fixed, stationary, holding engagement with the knitting machine at each end of the portion of the forecut which provides said yarn-engaging edge, and at least one of said projections projects laterally with respect to said portion of the'forecut.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, characterized by the fact that the forecut is resilient at at least one projection and that said projection has a set away from the said portion of the forc out which provides said yarn-engaging edge.

'3. A forecut to provide an edge to receive yarn in a knitting machine and composed of two integral sides of sheet material joined by a fold at that edge of the forecut which is to receive the yarn, characterized by the fact that at at least a part of the forecut its two sides are spaced from each other and that at each end of that portion of the forecut which provides said yarn-receiving edge the forecut is provided with a projection to make a holding engagement with the knitting machine.

4. A forecut to provide an edge to receive yarn in a knitting machine and composed of a blank of sheet material folded at that edge of the forecut which is to receive the yarn, characterized by the fact that adjacent one end of the portion of the forecut which provides said edge the forecut is provided with at least one projection projecting substantially toward the opposite end of said portion to make holding engagement with the machine, and that adjacent said opposite end of said portion the forecut is provided with at least one projection projecting substantially toward the first mentioned end of said portion to make holding engagement with th machine and having a set to one side of said portion of the forecut.

5. The combination of a needle bed for knitting machines having slots between needle positions adjacent that edge of the bed whereat the cloth is formed, and an undercut adjacent each end of each of said slots, and stationary forecuts in said slots, each of said forecuts having projections disposed in said undercuts to clasp the respective forecut to the bed in a fixed, stationary position.

6. The subject matter of claim 5, characterized by the fact that one projection of each of said forecuts is displaced to one side of the forecut and engages the needle bed at one side of its respective slot.

7. The subject matter of claim 5, characterized by the fact that the said slots extend across the said edge of the bed, substantially transversely to said needle positions, a groove in one face of the needle bed forms the undercut of those ends of all said slots that are at the said face, and a groove in the opposite face of the needle bed forms the undercut of those ends of all said slots that are at the said opposite face.

aimless I 18. .ln-a knitting-machine, :a needle bed having slots between adjacent needle positions extending across the edge of the bed whereat the cloth is donned, a groove extending across said needle positions at the same face of the bed "as said positions and outside the area of said face that is piercedby the said slots, and a substantially parallel groove extending across the opposite face of thebed in -which;said-slots terminate, and a forecut located in each of said slots and having :two side portions joined as by a fold extending across said cdgeof the needlebed, each-ofssaid side portions having a projection disposed in the first nentionedgroove and also a projection disposed the second mentioned groove and at one-side of the slot in which the-respective forecut is located,

.9, A needle bed for knitting machines having slots .difipflsed between and substantially transversely of needle positions adjacent the edge of the -needle bed whereat the cloth is formed, characterized by the fact that the needle bed, adjacent said edge of the bed, is undercut adjacent each end of eachof said slots, and the undercut nearer the outer periphery is displaced from the adjacent end of the respective slot and the inner 8 end of each of said slots terminates at the inner one of these two undercuts.

10. A needle bed for knitting machines as claimed in claim 9, characterized by the facts that the needle bed is undercut adjacent each end of each of said slots and that the undercutting at adjacent ends of a number of adjacent slots comprises a groove in the needle bed extending transversely of said slots.

CHARLES F. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in "the file .of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name .Date

407,126 Scott July 16, 1889 552,805 Williams Jan. 7, 1896 2,127,537 Schuricht Aug, 23, 1938 2,135,187 Lawson et a1 Nov. 1, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,216 Great Britain 1898 113,453 Australia July 24, 1941 

